University of Wisconsin President Ray Cross on Tuesday asked the Legislature's budget-writing committee to approve a new public authority for the UW System, a "dedicated and stable funding stream" and to reduce the governor's proposed $300 million budget cut over the next two years.

Shortly after he finished his testimony, a handful of protesters burst into the room shouting, "No cuts, no deals." Followed by four Capitol police officers, the protesters marched past the table where Cross was sitting to give testimony before the Joint Committee on Finance.

If Park Bank is liable for not spotting Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva's $34 million embezzlement from Koss Corp. and has to reimburse the company, Koss Chief Executive Michael Koss should also be ordered to personally pay the public company he runs, the bank argues in a new lawsuit.

Grant Thornton, Koss Corp.'s former auditor, should also have to pay a portion of any award that may be ordered, Park Bank argued in the latest twist in a long-running court fight stemming from Sachdeva's massive embezzlement.

"Park Bank denies any and all liability to Koss in this case," the bank said in its action. "Nevertheless, should Park Bank be found liable to Koss (Corp.) and required to pay damages to Koss, in this case, those damages will have been the result of a common liability of Park Bank, Michael Koss and Grant Thornton, thereby entitling Park Bank to (a) contribution from Michael Koss and Grant Thornton."(6)

NFL Network on Time Warner Cable? Nope

One of the most frequent questions I get from readers involves the NFL Network and Time Warner Cable.

The two sides have been unable to reach an agreement to carry the network on the cable system.

On Thursday morning, the NFL Network released a statement that does not sound particularly optimistic.

Here is the statement: "We are extremely disappointed that Time Warner is unwilling to reach an agreement to carry the NFL Network on terms that are fair and reasonable and consistent with other distributors. We don’t expect to reach a deal with them anytime soon. We have deals with hundreds of other distributors including four of the five largest distributors. We are surprised that they continue to reject our offers and deny the fans the only network dedicated entirely to football as well as the exciting new NFL RedZone channel that we are launching this season."

Time Warner has said in recent weeks that they have been in negotiations with NFL Network. Perhaps, but it doesn't appear any progress was made.

As it happens, the Green Bay Packers will not be on any NFL Network broadcasts this coming season. But judging from readers, there is great interest among cable subscribers to get the network.

In a related development, the NFL, cognizant of the fact that many games around the league will be blacked out in their local markets because the games haven't sold out, is planning to show those games on NFL.com on a delayed basis. You can find out more about this here.